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Ever considered biking to work? Can’t say I have. Having biked miles to school and back when I was a kid, I thought my biking days were well and truly over. But lately, I’ve been considering the pros and cons of biking to work. What with the price of gas running at an all time higher earlier this year, increasing traffic congestion and pollution, and the possibility of getting more exercise, biking is starting to look like a very smart option. And I’m not the only one thinking that way. Seems the U.S. and the U.K. governments have been launching incentives to encourage people to bike to work.

Starting in January, bike commuters in the U.S. will actually able to get money for biking to work thanks to The Bicycle Commuter Act, one of the lesser known clauses in the recent $700 billion Wall Street bailout. Bikers will be able to get up to $240 a year from their employers for bicycle expenses.

And in the U.K., workers who join a company’s Cycle to Work Scheme (a “green travel plan” initiative) can buy bicycles are reduced prices.

Still not sure biking to work is for you? Then check out this free 50-page online guide on How to Bike It To Work. It’s a PDF sampler of The Bike to Work Book due for release by Amazon.com next month. Written by cycle experts Carlton Reid and Tim Grahl, it’s full of information about commuter cycling. Best of all, it lists and then exposes the truth behind the 24 most commonly used excuses for not cycling to work. Go on, get on yer bike!